Melba Lucia 2007

Region
Yarra Valley

Appearance
Bright red with some purple highlights

Bouquet
Fragrant complex brambly fruits with dark chocolate aromas

Palate
Savoury palate with fine integrated tannins and a lick of rusticity

Vintage Conditions
The 2007 growing season was warm and dry giving early flavour development at balanced alcohol levels.

Winemaking
A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (planted in 1990) and Sangiovese (planted in 2003). Vines are cane pruned and later shoot thinned to 18 bunches per vine. Being young vines, the Sangiovese had 6 bunches per vine. The vines are hand picked into 8 kg buckets and transported to the winery. Yarra Valley soils are quite old and weathered and the wines often lack natural tannin that typical clarets have in spades. Sangiovese is included in the blend to give some natural tannin and savouriness. Fruit is destemmed, partially crushed and tipped into closed 14 tonne fermenters. The wine is fermented naturally, kept at a minimum temperature of 25° C and on skins for ~ 40 days then pressed, settled overnight and gravity filled to new and used casks where it matures at 16° C for 14 months. It is then racked by gravity and the final blending completed. All our red wines complete malic acid fermentation for microbial stability and deacidification. Aged in new and used French oak casks for 14 months.

Wine Analysis
Alc/Vol : 13.0% pH : 3.44 TA : 6.4 g/L

Cellaring
5 - 15 years in good cellaring conditions. These ‘claret styles’ age very well over time.

Suggested Cuisine
Grilled meats, slow cooked rabbit or pasta with funghi.

General Characteristics
Dry Medium Bodied

USA
90 Points
"The last two wines, Melba Lucia and Melba Mimi, are a fairly new project to produce “light, food-friendly styles of Cabernet.” The 2007 Melba Lucia is composed of 91% Cabernet Sauvignon and 9% Sangiovese. The color is a very deep garnet and the nose reveals notes of blackberry, leather, tobacco, loam and a bit of chocolate mint. Medium-bodied, this wine has a good backbone of acidity and a medium level of fine tannins."

Lisa Perotti-Brown, Wine Advocate, May 2011

95 Points

A fragrant bouquet of cassis and black fruits, then an elegantly poised, medium-bodied palate that has particularly good line and length; a winemaker in complete command. Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot/ Sangiovese/ Petit Verdot.

James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion 2011, August 2010

93 points

Stylish and elegant, this is a savoury wine of great complexity. Lifted violets meet star anise and vibrant dark berry fruit while Sangiovese adds a note of sun dried tomato. Dusty, drying tannins will benefit from time to integrate and soften.

Nick Stock & Tyson Stelzer, Wine 100, July 2010

89 Points and 4 Star Value
"This is a blend of cabernet sauvignon and sangiovese and when you taste it, you wish there were more of these blends made in Australia.
It was a tough year, but they're produced a very smart wine. With 2007 Yarra Valley reds, the first thing you look for are signs of bushfire smoke, but be damned - this just taste good. Flavours of leather, liquorice, ash and cedarwood. It's tannic but juicy and is crying out to be served alongside pizza. Rustic, but fresh and lively. Yummo with a capital Y. DRINK 2010-2013"

Campbell Mattinson and Gary Walsh, The Big Red Wine Book 2010/11, June 2010

"The fragrant, enticing nose reflects dark berries and cherry. The small proportion of sangiovese certainaly makes its impact on the tannins which, although firm, match the gentle fruit reasonably well.

, Winewise, November 2009